Campus Starbucks 'Somewhere to be at Night'

By C2M Director of Written Content Kevin Loker

Mason just got a bit more caffeinated.

As of 10 a.m. Sunday, the university’s new on-campus Starbucks will be pulling all-nighters with students, operating on a near 24-hour, 7 days a week schedule.

The coffee shop, located on the first floor of the Northern Neck apartment complex, will be open around the clock Mondays through Thursdays, shutting its doors Friday nights at midnight. On Saturdays, it will open for business from 10 a.m. to midnight, and on Sundays, the shop will open its doors at 10 a.m. and restart the week’s 24-hour operation.

“We wanted to provide a place for different kids to study, somewhere to be at night,” said campus Starbucks Manager Rona Loscano. “ . . . and you know, this is nice safe place to be if they want to study all night long, and be able to have something to eat or drink while they’re at it.”

Last year, Student Government pushed for a 24-hour study area on-campus, and eventually collaborated with Dining Services to establish the new Starbucks’s hours of operation.

“Fridays and Saturdays we are closing at midnight, [but] if there’s a demand, then we’ll open 24 hours all the time,” said Loscano.

Loscano, who previously worked as manager in the Johnson Center Food Court, and before that, as an area Starbucks store manager with stores in Fair Lakes, Mount Vernon, Alexandria, and Manassas, said the hours of operation would most benefit the students who live nearby and need a late-night study escape from their rooms. When asked if it could turn into a late-night hangout similar to Ike’s, however, Loscano said “It could happen.”

“I’m personally looking forward to stopping by before class,” said sophomore business management major Anna Ruth. While other students like Ruth will begin to notice the coffee shop’s presence as classes start this week, some of Northern Neck’s residents are already more than aware.

“She calls herself ‘fortunate’,” said Loscano of a student she met during move-in who lives above the store, “Every once in awhile she gets a waft of coffee coming into her room, and she’s says she loves it.”

“I’m in trouble,” said sophomore government and international politics major and Northern Neck resident Dominic Pody, “Living above Starbucks is blessing, but I hope it isn’t a curse to my wallet.”